CARICATURES BY
DALE M. GLADSTONE

(718) 782-2250 fax (509) 479-4345
Send me some EMail at dgladstone@aol.com
All artwork amd copy ©2006 Dale Gladstone

Q.1) "What do you do?"
A) I am usually seated in one spot (so people always know where to find me) and draw funny pictures of people 1 or 2 or 3 at a time (or whatever) as they come over to me at an event.
Q. 2) "When should you arrive?"
A) It is usually best for me to arrive at the very beginning of an event, so everyone sees me as they arrive. The first few guests keep me busy until the rest arrive.
Q. 3) "Is this a picture of you?"
A) No, this is Jay Leno. I generally don't put drawings of myself in my advertising.
Q. 4) "Do you stroll as you draw?"
A) No, it is far too painful to hold up a drawing tablet more than a few minutes. If necessary, I can move from table to table, but I am seated when I work. Generally, it is best to keep me in one place so people can find me.
Q. 5) "Are you gonna make me look fat?"
A) You'll be paper thin, I promise.
Q. 6) "What kind of materials & frames do you use?"
A) I usually draw on my "tablet PC" (see Q. 15 for more info) & print the 8.5"x11" drawings on my portable bubble jet printer. As far as I know, I'm the first party caricaturist in the New York area (the whole Northeast, really) to do anything like this and only one of a handful in the whole country, or even the world. The frames I offer are black carboard pre-cut mats. The software I'm using is Alias Sketchbook Pro. The PC is just a very expensive tool. I'm still doing the drawings by hand by any reasonable standard. If you prefer something more nostalgic enough to pay extra, I can draw with fast-drying permanent ink felt-tip markers on 11"x14" ledger bond paper.
Q. 7) "Do you draw on T-shirts?"
A) No, but anyone who really wants it on a T-shirt can go to almost any copy shop or photo lab these days and have any caricature, art or photo affordably printed on a T-shirt, sweatshirt, sweatpants, shorts, coffee mug, calendar, keychain ... etc. Starting with a better caricature on paper, they'll end up with a better T-shirt. I can print out my drawings on iron-on transfer paper w/instructions if you hire someone who creates novelty iron-on transfer T-shirts at parties. They could work with me using a shirt press to put my drawings on T-shirts. I don't yet have any contact info for such people, but there are likely a lot of party planners who do.
Q. 8) "Would you be able to draw a caricature if I mailed you a picture of someone to you? I want to reproduce it on invitations to invite people to a party. What would you charge for this?"
A) What I charge for this depends on a few things;
-1) How soon can you send the photos & how soon do you need this done? (How soon does your printer need my art to meet your deadline?)
-2) I get the impression you've seen www.dalegladstone.com? What samples were like what you want? For instance, work like the samples on the page w/Jack Nicholson are more expensive than work like the samples on the page w/Elvis. Please send me your fax # with your selection. I'd like to send you an invoice so you can send a deposit with the photos. It's best to send as many photos as possible because it's better to let me judge which images will best help me render a good likeness. Please put in writing any details I must include in the art. Also put in writing anything I must not include. The reason for this instruction is best explained by the following story:
Once I was asked to do a marker drawing of a man at his desk. No instructions were given regarding his attire, so I drew him in a jacket & tie. When the client saw this, they said, "Oh no, he musn't be dressed that way, no jacket & tie..." With a marker drawing, the only way to fix this would be to put him in a black turtleneck or do the whole drawing over again. They didn't want a black turtleneck. They finally understood why I had to charge them for 2 drawings to give them what they wanted, but I wish to avoid such unhappy situations in the future. That's why I always ask clients to put their do's & don'ts in writing. Not all changes require a double fee. Some are even free. I only charge for needed changes that are not my fault. How much I charge depends on how much work is required & how much time is left to do it.
Q. 9) "How long does it take to draw someone?"
A) 4 to 5 minutes/person. That's per person, not per drawing. If 2 or 3 or 6 people come over and want to be in the same picture, it won't be done in 4 minutes. See my Rates.
Q. 10) "Is this a picture of you?"
A) No, this is Frank Sinatra.
Q.11) "Can you draw faster than that?"
A) Can you? You won't find anyone else good who can. I'm drawing fast enough already. If you want more people drawn you'll have to pay me to stay longer or...
Q.12) "I'm inviting a LOT of guests, can you help me find an extra artist or 2?"
A) Yes, as soon as I get your check or PayPal deposit, I can refer other artists if you need extra. But, I ONLY make REFERRALS, not reccommendations or sub-contracts. There is no accounting for taste & I do not take any responsability for other artists. They must contract with you separately. Even if I refer someone to you, I urge you to ask them for samples before you hire them. We're all quite different and there's no accounting for taste. I will not tell you if you will like someone or not, but my referrals are reliable.
Q.13) "What kind of events do you do? Do you do barmitzvahs & batmitzvahs?"
A) I've done more barmitzvahs & batmitzvahs than your rabbi. I also do trade shows, conventions, conferences, awards dinners, promotional events, office parties, picnics, pool parties, dinner cruises, bar-b-ques, block parties, weddings, anniversaries, birthdays for all ages, christenings, communions, sweet 16 parties, graduations, proms, fund raisers, batchelor parties, bridal showers, holiday parties, New Year's parties, gifts, presentations, Superbowl parties, illustrations and advertising.
Q.14) "Are you gonna draw all my chins?"
A) Sorry, only one to a customer.
Q.15) "What is a tablet PC and why should I want you to use that instead of markers?"
My tablet PC is a special kind of laptop PC that allows me to draw, write & do all my computer work directly on the monitor screen with the special tablet stylus pen. When I use the tablet PC instead of markers, it produces results that are in many ways much better. For those reasons plus the fact that I'm tired of working with markers after 17 years, I bought my tablet PC and for customers who prefer marker drawings for some reason, I will charge extra. The PC is only a very expensive tool. I'm still doing the drawings by hand by any reasonable standard. I print the 8.5"x11" glossy fast drying drawings on my portable bubble jet photo printer. The frames I offer are black carboard pre-cut mats. The tablet PC also allows me to offer you some other very nice extras I can't deliver any other way: People often ask for extra dawings, especially if they are posing with friends or relatives from outside their household. If I'm working with markers, I usualy have to tell them there isn't enought time to draw anyone twice. With my tablet PC, I can just tell the printer to spit out another copy and I only charge $2.oo (black & white) or $3.oo (color) for extra copies, paid either by the host or the guest, as the host wishes. I can also provide a CD-Rom containing all the drawings from the entire party to the host, guest of honor or anyone else for $50.oo per disk. The software I'm using is Alias Sketchbook Pro.
Q.16) "What are these items in your price chart about a video hook-up or projector & an easel?"
A) I can connect a TV, video equipment or my projector to my tablet pc so the drawings I do are projected live, stroke by stroke, on a big screen or wall. If no such screen or blank wall is available, I can bring an easel & canvas to project on. This practice makes what I do a real spectacle & illicits the most impressive response from people.
Q.17) "How much do you charge?"
A) It ranges from $115/hr. and up. See my Rates.
Q.18) "Do you accept credit cards?"
A) So far, I can only do so through an online service called PayPal.
Q.19) "Can you draw people's hobbies?"
A) I can and will draw whatever people ask me to as long as it's nothing that'll get me in trouble. Many people prefer to be drawn just as they are without any background, costumes or props. Some artists who always interrogate you about your career and hobbies fill their drawings with all these gimmicks because they can't draw a good likeness and they want you to think you're getting your money's worth anyway. I'm always happy to chat with people, but my first priority is to draw what people want without adding any junk they don't.
Q.20) "Can you give me more hair?"
A) Are you particular about where I put it?
Q.21) "Will you give me a discount?"
A) If you want to save money, skip the color and/or other extras. My black and white prices are competative enough. If you need me for 5 hours or more, we can discuss day rates that may be good for you.
Q. 22) "Are you gonna make me look ugly?"
A) You'll look the same after I draw you as you did before. I'm not responsible for how you look and I'm not a licensed plastic surgeon, so what you are is what you get , but I never draw braces without permission.
Q. 23) "Is this a picture of you?"
A) No, this is Ray Charles.
Q.24) "Do you mind if we watch you draw?"
A) Not at all. Half the reason why people should hire me is so their guests can enjoy watching me capture humorous likenesses of their friends & family on paper. I always enjoy an audience. Frankly, I've always been a shameless show-off.
Q. 25) "How do you keep track of who's turn is next?"
A) I don't. Crowd control is rarely a problem, but when it is, I'll never get any drawings done if I have to manage a sign up sheet. If a sign up sheet is necessary, you will have to arrange for someone to assist me with it throughout the event.
Q. 26) "Do you have references?"
A) I'm rarely asked, so I rarely update them, but yes. I can send them upon request.
Q. 27) "Can you draw people faster as couples or groups?"
A) Yes, but I won't promise how much faster.
Q. 28) "How long have you been doing this?"
A) A couple hours.
"No, I mean how many years?"
Since 1987.
Q. 29) "What else do you do?"
A) Some freelance ILLUSTRATION. This still pays most of my bills. Never had a day job.
Q. 30) "Can you write John Doe's Birthday (or whatever) on every drawing?"
A) Yes. I can even place your company logo on every drawing or probably anything else you can think of, but extra charges may apply.
Q. 31) "How do you still make it look like the person when exaggerating features? "
A) Actually, it's harder to get a likeness if you don't exaggerate features at least a little. To make a long story short, the problem is best solved mostly by not looking too closely at details but stepping back and keeping your entire subject & image in perspective. By that I don't mean mechanical perspective with horizons & vanishing points. I mean getting the overall shape and proportions of your subject represented or exaggerated properly. To elaborate: if you are waiting in a huge train station, parking lot or airport for a friend to meet you, you recognize them even if they're 200 ft. away. From that distance, you can't see exactly what shape their nose is or how many freckles they have, but you see their build, relative size, posture, movement, mood, hair (or lack there of) and out of a crowd you can recognize them. Get the general features right and focus less on the minute details. If you stare too hard at the little wrinkles and contours, you get lost too deeply in all that and the more important general proportions can get messed up.
Q. 32) "Do you use watercolor or colored pencils? "
A) For parties, I usually use my tablet PC or sometimes markers. I usually do not use colored pencils. I do use watercolor, but more recently I like to do everything in Adobe Illustrator cs when possible. I still start with a pencil sketch and maybe use Alias Sketchbook Pro to plan the color. The finshed art is 100% Adobe Illustrator.
Q. 33) "Will you wear a tux?"
A) Sure, but the rental will be added to the bill
Q.34) "Which is better, black & white or color?"
A) I like both very much. Black & white caricatures are faster, less expensive and easier (See my Rates.). I urge you to get what you want.
Q. 35) "How many people can you fit into a group drawing?"
A) With the hi-tech gear I use now, I can draw groups limited only by time. If we have the time, I can digitally copy, paste & scale everyone into a group drawing comprised of whatever number you like, and they only need to pose one at a time.
Q. 36) "Are you gonna draw me with a big nose?"
A) No, I usually draw people with my right hand. Besides, I don't have a big nose.

fax (509) 479-4345
Send me some eMail at
dale@dalegladstone.com
All artwork
©2004 Dale Gladstone

You should always see samples if possible before hiring an artist. These samples represent the quick magic marker drawings I do at parties and events. Caricatures also make great gifts! I can even work from photos. If your budget allows and you'd like to see the more detailed caricatures I do, see my CARICATURE page. If you would like to browse my illustration portfolio, click here, or go to www.dalegladstone.com